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Kerron Clement captures gold in 400 hurdles

RIO DE JANEIRO — Kerron Clement struck gold in the 400-meter hurdles on Thursday at Olympic Stadium.
Kerron Clement (USA) competes in the 400 hurdles semifinals. (Photo: Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports)

RIO DE JANEIRO — Kerron Clement struck gold in the 400-meter hurdles on Thursday at Olympic Stadium.

Clement finished in a season-best 47.63 seconds, just ahead of a fast-closing Boniface Mucheru Tumuti of Kenya (47.78) and Yasmani Copello of Turkey (47.92).

Clement, 30, is a two-time world champion and the silver medalist from Beijing in 2008, but this is his first individual gold at the Olympics.

Clement's victory is the first for U.S. men on the track. Despite a strong performance overall by the U.S. track and field team, all of the golds won by U.S. men until this race had been in the field.

It's the second Olympic gold medal for Clement, another former Florida Gator (triple jump gold and silver medalists Christian Taylor and Will Claye ran track for Florida). He won gold as a member of the 4x400 relay in Beijing.

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